Leon Turnbull Photography

Clarence Creek Falls was my next stop after Alder Glen Falls. When you get to the top of the falls along the road, it is quickly seen there is no way to view the waterfall. Except for some craziness, that is. It would be nice if there was a good view from the road. Especially when you consider that the Forest Service has a nice road sign along the highway telling unsuspecting visitors to come see Clarence Creek Falls just a mile up the dirt road off the highway. Then they get up there expecting to see a nice waterfall, but no-siree-Bob. No luck for them.

So that is where the craziness begins for certain people. Not those unsuspecting visitors. But people like myself who know beforehand what to expect here. Yet even for me, I made it much tougher on myself than need be. Walking back from the turnout down the road, looking for a way down the steep slope to the bottom of the waterfall. I somehow missed the proper path down. Continuing further down the road, I see a route that looked do-able. Not as steep. But it was pretty much a nightmare. The route consisted of a big hack through stinging nettles, the ground was very crumbly and unstable with hidden holes, and pretty steep as well. I had to be extremely careful, and more than once considered giving up. There was no path, it seemed as though no one had been down here before. This did not really make sense. I was sure that others certainly would have been down here before. I persevered, however, and after far too much effort, I made it to the waterfall.

It is a pretty nice waterfall, 45 ft. high, but difficult to photograph. This straight on angle was pretty much the only option. When I went to go back up to the top, I certainly did not want to go back the same way I came down. Lo and behold, I found a different path going up to the top, which was much more traveled, and much much easier than whacking through those stinging nettles over unstable ground. I completely missed seeing this path on the way down, and I don’t know how because it was fairly obvious from the road. Sigh.